11-12-2012, 02:15 AM
The cattle industry on the BI is all messed up. It's another farm product where the original economics aren't working. It's kept real quiet, but the BI is the largest exporter of cattle to the mainland, 40,000 per year. They are exported to the mainland for "finishing, the final fattening up, because it is cheaper to put the cattle in containers and ship them to the mainland than it is to ship the grain and feed in for the fattening. There was a crash of one of these cattle containers on I5 in Washington state recently (bunch of cows got killed) and the only that picked up that story was damontucker, it didn't get reported in Washington state at all. In light of the historical background, it is understandable but it seems so bizarre this island raises and ships off all these cows, then turns around and imports 95% of the beef sold on this island. And people wonder why the cost of living is high. This drought and disease is going to cause that industry some big trouble.
quote:
http://washingtonexaminer.com/drought-cr...ed/2035977
Hawaii's beef market is backward. Nearly all the beef eaten here — 95 percent — arrives packaged on container ships from the U.S. mainland. At the same time, Hawaii cattle ranchers ship 40,000 live cattle each year to California, Kansas and other states, while just 4,000 are slaughtered for meat sales in Hawaii.
*Japanese tourist on bus through Pahoa, "Is this still America?*